The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1887-10-16
The Game of Football.

England has given two pre-eminently field
games, using the term ''Held games" to describe
those games requiring large playing field
These games foot ball and cricket Polo
might be added to the list but real polo. played
on horseback, as in England, has never become
popular in this country. Lacrosse, that grand
game of the Northern Indians. comes to us from
Canada, its native home. Baseball did not
come to us-we made it. 1t is creature Of
gradual growth. descended from the hand-ball
of the ancient Romans 1t is essentially Amer
lean, and stands first in the hearts Of the public.
Cricket sprung from the same ancestry, but,
owing to the different circumstances under
which il was developed. it differs materially
from baseball. Skinny" recollections of
which are treasured so carefully in the heart of
every "Old Seminary Boy" is our version of the
English game of hockey, but its day is passed,
and we know it no more
Football had its origin in the woods of Ger
many, where, with bladder for ball, the
sturdy Teutons laid the foundation of our pres
ent game, the game pre-eminent of American
colleges Born in Germany. nurtured in En-
gland, it has been brought to it's present perfect
state of excellence in America. This excellence
is due to the revisions and alterations made in
football rules by the American intercollegiate
Foot ball Association. At best rough game,
its rouebness has been modified so that the cry
of the college authorities against it is longer
heard Its collegiate popularity is due to the
unexceleG opportunities it affords for both sci
entfc team play" and brilliant individual
work, the nerve, pluck and muscles, we'll as
speed, agility and wind required of each player,
and above all that fascinating element of danger
which pervades it. Some one has said of col
lege men that he who plays lacrosse is crank,
bat he who plays foot ball is hero This is an
injustice to that grand game of the aborigines
which Catlin has pictured SO spiritedly in his
work the North American Indian, but shows
the firm hold which foot ball has secured in the
hearts OF the college men of the United States.
All the various intercollegiate games are hard
fought, but none so hard as foot-ba and in no
other is there so much interest taken.
The principal rules Of the modern game are
these: The field, marked out by white wash
lines, is 800 feet long by 160 feet wide In the
center of each end line are placed two goal
posts, Isl feet apart, connected by cross-bar
ten feet from the ground. To score goal the
ball must pass between these two posts. above
the cross-bar. Each team, or eleven" consists
of seven 'rushers." two ''half backs. one 'quar-
ter back" and one back" The main differences
between the game of to-day and the old English
game is that players are now allowed to pick
MP and run with the ball. In fact no great
amount of kicking is attempted, except at goal,
the main work being in carrying the ball
passing it from one to another. The purpose of
the players is to kick the ball through their OPP
ponents' goal, to make a "touch down"
H. e., to hold the ball the ground beyond
their opponents goal line), or to make "safe-
ty" by compelling their opponents to touch the
ball down in their own territory. safety"
counts two against the side making it A
touchdown" counts four for the side making
it. and q 'sgoal' from the field counts five. After
O touch down is made the ball is carried out
into the field such distance as the kicker wishes,
and is kicked at the goal If the ball passes
over the cross bar between the two goal posts
it adds two points to the four secured by the
touchdown.
The rule most difficult OF comprehension ia
that which forbids an .'off side" player touch
the ball. player is ''off-sde' when he is be-
tween the ball and his opponents goal. Until
an opposing player has touched it, or until the
ball is carried between him and the goal for
which he is playing. an off-side player has
rights whatever. A player running with the
ball may be tackled and held or compelled to
make down by holding the ball on the
ground. In either case the ball is put down for
"scrimmage." The opposing elevens Zine up''
in two lines either side Of the spot where the